1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of printing image data associated with a print right, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a recent image forming apparatus, in addition to image data read from a scanner device and print data received from a personal computer, it is possible to print out document data which is stored in a memory medium or on a network file server and is input to the image forming apparatus as print data.
Further, according to improved performance and increased multifunctionality, the user can perform printout with a wide variety of formats, and on the other hand, settings therefor have been made complicated.
When the same data once printed is to be reprinted with the same settings, it is necessary to perform data input and configuration of complicated print settings again, which makes the process troublesome and there is a possibility that the resulting output turns out to be different from the first printout.
In view of this, there has been proposed a reprinting function for accumulating rendered image data generated from input data in a storage device of an image forming apparatus, storing the rendered image data together with the print settings in association with print history information, and thereby enabling the stored data to be used when executing reprinting.
The reprinting function enables the user to perform reprinting with ease, and reduce output time because the rendered image data is made use of.
Further, the input data which can be set as an object to be reprinted includes document data stored in a memory medium, and document data stored on a network file server, and these kinds of document data include access control information-associated documents.
However, the access control information-associated documents are documents that permit various kinds of access control by being associated with access control information managed by an access control management server, which includes information on users who are permitted to view or print documents and information on time periods over which the users are permitted to view or print the documents.
Further, by changing the access control information in the access control management server, it is possible to change and update the access control settings without modifying the access control information-associated documents with which the access control information is associated.
When printing such an access control information-associated document, it is necessary to perform authentication of a user and make an inquiry of the access control management server about whether the authenticated user is permitted to print the document. When the authentication of the user has failed or it is determined that the authenticated user is not permitted to print the document, it is necessary to prohibit the printout by the user.
In a case where the authenticated user is permitted to print the document, when executing reprinting using the reprinting function, the user can print the document without user authentication and making an inquiry of the access control management server, which brings about a problem concerning the security of information (protection of information).
To achieve both the security of information and the convenience of reprinting, there has been proposed a print system in which a user is requested to designate a secrecy degree of image data when executing printing, and it is judged according to the secrecy degree whether or not the image data is to be stored in a storage device or to be abandoned (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-97350).
Further, there has also been proposed a method in which reprinting is permitted only when a user who has issued a print job and a user who requested reprinting match (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-343034).
However, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-97350, in a case where the user designates a high secrecy degree for a document, it is possible to protect the security of the document, but a malicious user is capable of intentionally designating a low secrecy degree, which makes it impossible to positively protect the security of the document. Also, even a user who is not malicious can sometimes designate a low secrecy level by mistake.
Further, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-343034, a user who input a password at the time of printing is permitted to perform reprinting without inputting the password again, and other users who do not know the password cannot perform reprinting, and hence it is possible to protect the security of the document.
However, it is impossible for even a use who can input a correct password to perform reprinting unless the user is a user who issued the job, and hence it is impossible for a plurality of users to perform reprinting of a document provided with such security settings as mentioned above, in a shared manner.
Further, even for either of the conventional techniques of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-97350 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-343034, it is impossible to determine, when the access control settings in the access control management server which are associated with documents are changed, whether reprinting is permitted in a manner following up the changes in the access control settings.
Thus, the conventional techniques has a problem that it is impossible to provide sufficient security protection for image data associated with use rights, such as documents provided with security settings, when the documents are used again.